The present invention relates to inflators and, more particularly, to a compressor mechanism for a battery operated inflator.
Inflators are used with several types of household as well as outdoor devices. Inflators are used to inflate or blow up various items such as bicycle tires, rafts, air mattresses, balls or the like. An inflator can be utilized with an air needle or any type of device which has a standard inflation stem to receive a hose connector. Ordinarily, compressors are used which run from an alternating current supply. In alternating or AC supplied compressor/inflators, it is not necessary to have an efficient compressor since the motor is always running off of a constant current source. Accordingly, these compressors/inflators are very inefficient at low pressure operation. Further, when using a battery operated inflator, as the pressure in the inflator increases, and the compressor mechanism requires more power to obtain the high pressure, the batteries are drained quickly at high pressure operation.